Contemplative Sitting Network Reflection

I wanted to share with you this article written for the Institute of Contemplative Sitting Network from Sister Nancy Sylvester, an IHM Sister from Michigan.

-Sister Pat St. Louis, csj

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Bruno Barnhart was a Camaldolese monk who died in 2015. In his book The Future of Wisdom, he states, “The Christian history of the past two thousand years has been characterized by a continual tendency to reverse the event of the incarnation and separate once again the divine and the human, Trinity and humanity, God and Creation.” 

David Bohm was a physicist, in fact, one of the most significant in the 20th century, who died in 1992.  He said, “What is preventing mankind from working together….is a kind of thought that treats things as inherently divided…Each part is considered to be essentially independent …It’s similar to a virus…a disease of thought.”

In this time of COVID19, we do well to remember every time we sit in contemplative silence, alone or with others, we are generating antibodies to the above “thought disease” of both church and society.  Intentionally dwelling in oneness with ourselves, others, Earth, and the Divine, however much we are assaulted by thoughts or other distractions, we are in fact about immersing our consciousness in the source of ultimate unity.  We imbibe the correcting antidote.   We experience the unification of ourselves and our fractured Universe.  The Christ is once again being reborn in both ourselves and our world.

-Margaret Galiardi, OP and Nancy Sylvester, IHM

Reprinted with kind permission from Nancy Sylvester, IHM Detroit, MI.    

The Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue is offering 3 programs via Zoom in January, February, and March 2021. To learn more about the newest program, click here: Enter the Chaos: Engage the Differences to Make a Difference.

We Write for Rights - #Write4Rights #W4R20

Sister Olga, faithfully writing at 97 years of age

The Sisters of St. Joseph have been friends of Amnesty International for decades.  We’ve delighted in the annual visit of its well-known former Secretary General for Canada, Alex Neve, and his workers throughout the last fifteen years. Besides contributing monetary donations, Amnesty’s yearly Write for Rights initiative is an advocacy opportunity we’ve embraced since 2012.  This year was no different.

On the appointed December 10th, a group of our senior Sisters armed with pen and paper wrote 140 letters to various leaders throughout the world, pleading for amnesty and justice for their people who have been illegally incarcerated for standing up for human rights and justice in their countries.

140letters~ in the mail!

We read the cases of six specific men and women whose lives have been disrupted due to their support of others whose water, lands, and forests have been devastated and razed by companies seeking to advance their own financial largesse. The fact that our letters matter is evidenced by the success that has resulted for victims through the pressures our writing has exerted on various countries’ leaders.

I sensed a blessing descend upon our home as Sisters wrote impassioned pleas to repressive governments to right the wrongs of advocates unjustly treated for working on behalf of humanity.  There is no better way to live these Advent weeks than to raise our voices against injustices.  It is a powerful practice in preparing the way of the Lord.

-Sister Jean Moylan

National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas is celebrated on the National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, December 12th. A feast commemorating a religious event in the 16th century is now intertwined with our growing awareness of Indigenous peoples throughout the world – their strength, resilience, and rightful place in society. In the film The Condor and the Eagle we see such strength and resilience as four Indigenous leaders make a trans-continental journey from the Canadian plains to the heart of the Amazonian jungle. Their purpose - to unite the peoples of North and South America and deepen the meaning of "Climate Justice."  

At the heart of the journey is the indigenous prophecy “When the eagle of the North and the condor of the South fly together, Indigenous peoples will unite the human family.”  This underlies the amazing story, as we watch a shift of identity. Once forgotten voices rise to become strong communities with power to bring change to their world.

The experience of Juan Diego filled him with hope and belief in the spiritual protection offered through his extraordinary experience.

With the struggle and dialogue of Indigenous people in Canada, new hope is rising. This month the Liberal government of Canada introduced legislation to begin the process of bringing Canadian law into alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). Lots of hard work and dialogue lie ahead, but the shift has begun.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-introduce-undrip-legislation-1.5826523

As we remember the Indigenous saint of the South, we celebrate yet one more step in the North to live into reconciliation.

-Sister Loretta Manzara, csj

Third Sunday of Advent

“The spirit of God is upon me… and has sent me to bring good news…”

How our world longs for Good News: refreshment in the midst of COVID-19 and ease from the burden of worry and loneliness. News of a vaccine is pending and we have our arms ready. But our world also longs for relief from financial constraints and from the negativity of politicians and media. Our world longs for unity, for the peace of compassionate understanding, for hope amidst unjust criticism and oppressive structures. Front-line workers need relief and support against the anti-vaxxers, the conspiracy theorists, and merchants who fail to protect against price gouging and lapsed safety protocols. Into this world, the Saviour is coming. Who will bring the message of healing, forgiveness and hope? Who will stand in solidarity with those tired of waiting; with those drowning in COVID- fatigue? Who will call the people to patience and compassion?

We wait in hope; we live in the in-between time of no vaccine, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We just don’t know how long the tunnel is, and it is dark! Who will wait with patience and compassion and hope? Our charism of reconciling love calls us to wait, and to stir the embers of hope in those suffering from fatigue, loneliness and isolation. Our prayer today is for a restoration of hope, and our action today may be the renewing smile and the gesture of solidarity as simple as touching an elbow. We wait in hope, in patience and in stillness. We wait … knowing our God waits with us, walks alongside us into the wilderness and beyond. “Rejoice… pray… give thanks… hold fast… the One who calls is faithful… and will do this.”

-Sister Helen Russell, csj